my starter died a few days ago
i got it to start a few times by banging it with a hammer but then it just completely wouldnt work so i ordered a high torque mini one from summit, the hitachi style one
however, it wont fit
i connected all the wires, turned the key, and i heard it spinning but the gears didnt touch
i disconnected everything and played around with it under the car for a while, figuring i had just put it in wrong, but i cant see any way to make it work
does anyone else have this starter or know if it fits? i have a manual tranny if that makes a difference
any other recommendations would be welcome

 

most SB starters shoudl be a direct bolt-on. Did they include shims in the package ? Were there any installed with the stock starter ?

 

yep 2 shims came with it, the stock one didnt have any shims
i tried using both, one, and no shims and it didnt work for any of them

 

Sounds like the starter gear is not contacting the flywheel if you can hear the starter spinning but no cranking. And the shims will only move it further out. You might want to double check to make sure you got / they shipped the correct one.

When I recently replaced my starter I went with the CSI-CSR ultralightweight mini and no shims were needed. So I can't really advise further on the Summit brand starter.

 

im pretty sure i got the right one...the part number is the same online as it is on the little sticker on the starter

i took a look at the starter you bought and it looks basically the same (same design especially around the area gear and the big square mounting part) im really puzzled as to why it doesnt fit

anyone else? are there any "common" starter installation problems?

 

Sounds like you got the starter that only has the bolt pattern for 14" flywheels.

How many bolt holes are there, for starter bolts to go through?

You need the kind that has 4 bolt holes. You'll use the pair that includes the one farthest outboard on the starter. It will look kind of like this one (although this is a Nippondenso, not a Hitachi).

 

mine has 4 bolt holes though

 

here's mine:

shouldnt this fit on my car?

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...7D#largerimage

 

Their site is fornicated.... so I can't look at it.

But if it has the 4 holes, it should fit. Make sure you're not putting it on upside-down (since that is possible) and that you're using the right pair of holes. If all that checks out, take the starter off the motor, carefully hook all the wires to it being certain that the main batt wire can't short to ground, hold it up against the block, and have somebody hit the key; and watch the gear to make sure it pops out and spins while sitting like that. The drive could be defective, in which case you'd need to get it warrantied.

 

i just fixed the link

RB- the test that you just described, does it just check to see if the motor spins, or does it check something else too? because the motor definitely spins i can hear it

 

Yes, that's better.

And it does look like the right one.

That test lets you see if the gear is kicking out like it should, and if the teeth themselves spin. It's possible for the bulk of the starter to work, but the drive not to spin. No guarantee that it would do like that in free air even if it does when installed; but if it does, it's definitely bad.

 

when you turn the key to engage the starter two things should be happening : First, the pinion gear on the starter should be moved into position (you can check this by manually pulling the pinion gear out with your fingers, turn as you pull.
Second, the solenoid should spin that pinion gear -- which in turn spins the flywheel.

The test RB was describing was to hook up the starter and turn the key, you should not only see the pinion gear spinning, but also the extension of that gear from the housing of the starter. If the pinion gear does not 'pop-out', the starter is defective.

 

thanks guys i figured out what the test was showing when i went back out to do it....and i do indeed have a defective starter. the gear spins but does not move out towards the flywheel.

summit is sending me another one it'll be here on monday, hopefully that one will work

thanks again for the help

 

Well that sucks, but at least you've figured it out and got it handled. Which beats just having something that doesn't work and you don't know why.

 

one more question:

i am pretty sure i had all the wires on correctly, but if i didnt, is there any way that the gear would spin normally when the key was turned without having it move towards the alternator?

i had the battery cable and these 2 other wires that were basically together on one bolt, and then the pink wire and the wire that connects the solenoid to the rest of the starter on the other bolt. is this correct? also just curious what do those other 2 wires do?

 

There are 3 terminals on the solenoid.

One is the big post; it gets the batt cable and the smaller wires that carry battery juice to everything else. One wire goes to the solenoid terminal; it should be purple. The terminal that connects to the little lead coming up out of the starter motor, should have no wires going to it. If you had your solenoid wire going to that one, then that's what was wrong; when you turned the key, the power to spin the motor was coming directly from the ignition switch to the motor lead, but since that wire wasn't connected to the solenoid lead, the solenoid wasn't being energized, and since it's what kicks the gear out, that's why the gear wasn't being kicked out. So the starter might actually be OK.

Try hooking it up as described if you still have it, and see if it works.

Sorry, it didn't even occur to me that you might have hooked it up wrong like that.

 

i just played around with it a little more and you are correct

i was confused because the stock starter only had 2 terminals, and i was absolutely sure that the one with the battery cable only had 3 wires on it, so i put the purple one on the other big terminal that is only for the solenoid to the starter motor

now i have a new problem though: as soon as i start to connect the negative terminal on the battery, the starter starts cranking, engaging the flywheel, and starting the car.

obviously i still have the wires messed up somehow as the starter seems to be running permanently. any ideas on what ive done now?

 

try this

 

thats how i had the wires

now it seems like the whole starter is dead, it wont spin the motor at all, let alone move it out towards the flywheel

battery is fine, so i guess i'll just wait for the new starter to come monday

maybe i fried it when i had the wires on wrong...?

 

Hopefully the ign sw or wiring to it isn't smoked, from carrying WAY too much current from the mis-wiring. But if it is, it's easy to change the switch, and get to the wiring; pop the steering column out, it's right on top of that. It's probably quicker to do that, although it sounds like alot of work, than to try to change the switch out with the column in place. The column only has 2 nuts holding it to the dash, 3 screws to the firewall, and one nut holding it to the steering shaft. It comes RIGHT OUT. Just lowering it might make it accessible enough, but completely pulling it makes it very very easy to replace and properly adjust the switch. If that turns out to be the matter.

 

ok thanks if it doesnt work with the new starter then i guess i know where to go next

 

(huge sigh of relief) it fired right up today with the new starter
i was getting kind of worried about pulling the steering column lol